Related articles

Originally discussed at the firm's I/O developer conference last year, Google Maps AR attempts to solve one of the biggest problems with the software.

At the time Aparna Chennapragada, the vice president for Google Lens and AR at Google, said: "The cameras in our smartphones, they connect us to the world around us in a very immediate way; they help us save a moment, capture memories and communicate. But with advances in AI and computer vision we said 'what if the cameras can do more?', what if the cameras can help us answer questions such as 'where am I going?' or 'what's that in front of me?'

"Let me paint a familiar picture; you exit the subway, you're already running late for an appointment, or a tech company conference, and then your phone says 'head south on Market Street'.

"So what do you do? One problem, you have no idea which way is south, so you look down at the phone, you're looking at that blue dot on the map and you are starting to walk to see if it's moving in the same direction.

"If it's not, you're turning around, we've all been there.

"So we asked ourselves, 'what if the camera can help us here?'

"Our teams have been working really hard to combine the power of the camera, the computer vision, with Street View and maps to reimagine walking navigation."

However, at Google I/O 2019 the firm announced it was rolling out a preview version of Google Maps AR to all Pixel owners.

The feature will present itself when fans attempt to navigate to another location by walking.

Next to the "start" button that will initiate the traditional method of navigation there will be a button that says "start AR".

Once users press the key they will be presented with a new user interface that places a traditional map view towards the bottom of their screen.

The rest of the handset's panel will be used for the phone's camera; Google Maps will then intelligently analyse the user's surroundings in order to establish where they are.

As the name of the mode suggests, Google Maps will then display directions in augmented reality (AR).

This means huge arrows will be presented showing the user where they need to walk.

Google has told Express.co.uk that, for the moment, the function has only been designed to work in urban areas such as the City of London for instance.

It is worth emphasising the version of Google Maps AR rolling out to Pixel owners right now is still a preview edition.

Coming soon to @googlemaps, when you turn on Incognito mode in Maps, your activity—like the places you search or get directions to—won’t be saved to your Google Account. Just tap from your profile picture to easily turn it on or off. #io19pic.twitter.com/z7GRkkmDbn